 Excellent battle system
 Guitar mini-game is challenging yet fun
 Great concept and story

The Bad

 Graphics not the strong point
 Loading times
 You have to hold down a button to run

Grade

B

Ephemeral Fantasia is one of those games where the
initial impression turns out to be the wrong one. Any player
who picks up this game for only a few hours will come away
confused and disappointed. Where Konami's first RPG for the
PS2 really shines is over the long-haul with effort and exploration.
The story follows a musician by day/thief by night by the
name of Mouse and his talking guitar, Pattimo. The two are
hired by Xelpherpolis, the man betrothed to Pandule's princess
Loreille, and brought to the island. Once there, the events
over the next five days quickly reveal themselves. After the
fifth day, though, Xelpherpolis' plot becomes evident and
time reverts back to the first day that Mouse was on the island,
forcing him and the other people to relive the next five days,
over and over again.

Graphics:Ephemeral Fantasia, while not ugly, does not do itself
any favors with it's visual presentation. The character and
environment designs are often bland and uninspired. Even though
consistent, visual textures are average and won't wow gamers.
Structurally, though, the game is solidly built. The visual
interface is not so bad that gamers won't be able to place
for it being so ugly. Just don't expect Final Fantasy X out
of this.

Gameplay:
This is where EF really shines. After the first week
of required events, the game basically lets the player do
as they please, looking for pieces of the map and trying to
convince other characters about what is going on. These attempts
at recruiting involve more than just talking to someone. You
have to show up at certain times, locate items and talk to
other characters to figure out how to convince potential allies.
Also, the Guitar-Playing mini-game is rather a fresh addition
to the RPG genre. While, most of the time, you just get points
and a score by playing, there are times when you can actually
get paid for playing decently.

One of the nicer aspects of EF is the well-developed
battle system. Instead of you and your enemies lining up and
facing each other, everyone is placed on a circular field
in one of four spots. Allies can be surrounded in the center
or placed out on the perimeter. Where they're placed really
makes a difference on their ability to defend or attack. EF
also implements a real-time fighting engine where enemies
and players attack as soon as their action counter fills.
This leads to more than one player or enemy making attacks
at any given time, giving greater urgency in making choices
in combat.

There are a few sore spots in EF. Since the whole
game takes place on one island, the loading of area has been
split up into map sections, which means that running from
one place in town to another might send you through three
loading areas, taking anywhere from one to five seconds to
load apiece. While this is not horrible, is does seem to break
up the flow of movement. Also, concerning the map... Until
players start finding maps and getting familiar with how the
town is set up, they might find themselves confused and lost
often. By the time week 2 or 3 rolls around, you should be
able to get anywhere on the southside with no problem.

Ephemeral Fantasia is a throwback to the way RPGs
used to be made before polygons. With anime-style characters
and a firm story and gameplay, this game should be enjoyable
for anyone who can get past the graphical weaknesses. Players
who enjoy running around and doing as they please will thoroughly
enjoy themselves with this game.

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